Narcissus

(Just a quick note-- This doesn't really follow the traditional myth precisely, I just wrote it becauseI thought Echo deserved a little recognition as a lover, not some repetitive parrot who slowly dies after Narcissus turns into a daffodil. Her life goes on after his finishes. So, uh... enjoy and stuff.)

Greece, Some point in the Ancient times.

I sifted through the reeds, getting my hair caught up in the long grass. That familiar scent wafted through the breeze and my enthusiasm was restored. I dragged my legs through the water, wading in it until it nearly reached my armpits. There he was. Narcissus was crouched over the riverbank. He looked up and smiled at me. “Hey, Echo. How are you?” He frowned, and held out a hand to help me out of the river. “What have you been doing?” He laughed, slapping my back, spraying water everywhere. I smiled, not wanting to tell him that I had been pushed in by Tyrone. “Um. I wanted to… have a drink? Plausible enough?” Narcissus shook his head.

“Nope. Got to try better next time.”

“Well, if you aren’t even going to pretend that I was convincing enough, you may as well give me that pomegranate.” I snapped, thrusting my hand out. He sighed and placed the fruit in my palm. Now that I saw it… it didn’t look so good. There was a bite taken out of it, and the edges were sunken in. “Um, never mind, actually.” Narcissus rolled over to take the pomegranate from where I was sitting. There were pink impressions on his arms, and grass stains on his deep red tunic. “So, Tyrone wanted to know where you were. He said something about the colloseum.” I talked quickly to stop him from rolling back to his original place.

“I have no interest in going to Rome.” he replied flatly. Then he winced and groaned. “Gah, dead arm.”

“How long have you been here?”

“I have no idea.”

Two days. He had been laying there for two days. I came the day before, and saw him in the same position. “We’re getting worried about you, Narc.”

“We?” Narcissus raised his brow at the mention of myself as a plural.

“Me. Tyrone. Larette. Keril. Your parents. My parents. Everyone else in this city. Narcissus, everyone though you were dead.”

He shrugged. “Well, I’m not, am I? Come, come sit here. Look in the river.” There was no arguing with Narc, so I shifted over next to him. “Look at how beautiful it is in there.” He breathed. He was right. These unnamed flowers were blooming and the sky was a brilliant blue. The trees shivered slightly as a breeze drifted through the forest. A curl of Narcissus’s hair fell out of place. He leaned into the river, so close that I was afraid that he would fall into the other world. I saw myself, wide-eyed and small compared to Narc, with his chiselled features and deep green eyes. He swept the hair back into place, and leaned into the river even deeper. He examined the rest of himself and shook his head. “I’m so ugly.” He muttered.

“No, no you’re not.”

“Oh, Echo, such a liar.”

I grinned.

“Well, everyone will be relieved that you’re not dead, but what’s this about Tyrone and the colloseum?”

“Tyrone, the plucky brat that he is, wants to train to be a gladiator, and he wants me to come with him to Rome.”

“To train as what?”

“Bestiarius.”

“Oh my Zeus. Really?”

“Yeah-- can you imagine my face being torn off by a… an animal?”

“Um, no. You seem like you don’t plan on going.”